[ music ] >> bill: good morning, my fellow americans. what do you say? it is wednesday, june 5th. so good to see you today. thank you for joining us here on the "full-court press" on current tv this wednesday morning. where we are going to tell you what's going on here in our nation's capitol, around the country and around the globe. not only that, you get a chance to sound off in any way you want. you can do it by phone at

866-55-press. you can do it on your blackberrry or iphone or whatever on twitter @bpshow. join us on facebook at facebook.com/bill press show. the top generals of the pentagon came to capitol hill yesterday. you should have seen it. they got their asses kicked by women senators who accused them of ignoring and failing to understand and failing to fix the problem of sexual assault in the military. these women senators say we've got to take sexual assault out of the chain of command. and yesterday proved why we have to do so. they -- these men just don't get it. in other news, president obama appointed three -- named three people to the nation's second highest court, the dc district court and called on the senate

to act. and chris christie socked the people of fwhshingsz an unnecessary $24 million special election. coming up on current tv. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on!

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this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but

somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right? [ music ] >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: well after yesterday's battle in the united states senate, the score is: women senators: 1; pentagon: zero. maybe it was 99 top zero. it was a rout. happy wednesday. it is wednesday, june 5th here you are with us on the full court press.

you are part of the full"full-court press." you make it happen wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours? >> whether you are listening on your local progressive talk radio station. tune in as a loyal follower of that station and this program, whether you are listening on sirius xm this hour only. sorry we can't be with you all three hours on sirius xm. that's their own dumb choice. or whether you are watching us on current tv. good to have you with us today. there were fireworks on capitol hill yesterday. don't forget, you become part of the program any time you want by picking up the phone and calling us at 866-55-press, by picking up your iphone or your blackberrry or whatever, you're smart phone and sending us your comments on twitter @bpshow or on facebook at facebook.com/bill

press show. yes, that big hearing yesterday on sexual assault in the military, yet another hearing on the irs. primary battles up in new jersey and the special election called in new jersey and the french are now telling us that they have evidence that chemical weapons were used by the assad government in syria. we will get into all of that with you here on the "full-court press" with the help of our team, peter ogburn. >> hey, hey, hey. >> bill: doing double duty while dan henning continues on his honeymoon. he will be back on monday. alicia cruz is here to take care of the phones for you and cyprianbowling as the phones covered as always. we have to tell you, that hearing from the senate armed services committee yesterday, this subcommittee looking into the problem of sexual assault in the military. remember not so long ago a report came out that there are

26,000 cases last year of sexual assault across the board in the military up from about 10,000 in 2010. it's just a growing problem, and it's also a growing evidence that the military is capable of doing nothing about it, itself. kristen jillibrand said, here is why leaving you guys and continuing -- "you guys" meaning the commanders in charge isn't working. >> every single commander necessarily wants women in the force. not every single commander believes what a sexual assault is. not every single commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape. i have never third language like that in the united states am senate. >> she meant business. >> she was on fire yesterday. man, and they were a great picture in the washington post this morning, front page of the

military all across the board, all of those brassy uniforms. one woman only. from their comments, don't have a clue. even john mccain who is always also out there in support of the military the, given his own record as a graduate of the naval academy, he said yesterday he couldn't -- he continue encourage a young woman today to join the armed services. >> if a woman came to me and said her daughter wanted to join the military and could i give my unqualified support for her doing so i could not. >> bill: i could not. pretty sad tale there. all right. we are going to get into the news of the day with the help of all of you and with governor -- former governor eliot spitzer a little bit later in the program. democratic congressman yon

yarmouth will be with us in studio as well as reporters from politico. chris christie laying an egg yesterday but first. >> this is the full court press. >> here's what's making news. bill, if you are not cheating, you are not trying. we might be looking at the biggest doping scandal in the history of american sports. a new story from espn's t.j. quin says major league baseball is set to hand down am suspension including alex rodriguez and ryan braun. the politics are linked to the bio genesis lab in florida, about its link to doping and giving drugs to professional athletes. the only online difference between then and now tony bosh, the owner of the clinic is cooperating with major league baseball, giving them names giving them records, and according to t. j. quin at espn, the players are looking at a 100-game suspension. >> how many games to they play

in a season. >> it's over 250. it's a big big suspension. the problem is not only were they dope, but they lied to major league baseball about it because, again, these stories have come up and they have said before, no, no no, no. not us. >> talking big names. >> big names, the biggest in baseball. >> a-rod. >> sorry. you stay classy washington, d.c. the museum has announced they are apenouncing a num exhibit on "anchorman" "anchorman." it the it will happen in november of this year. some of the things you can see at the exhibit inclusion the jazz flute that he famously plays. there will be several of the '70s styles costumes and a little desk where you can practice your sign off. you stay classy wherever you are from. very interesting. >> bill: that is. that was a funny movie. >> yeah. the future is bright and it

tastes like pepperoni. if you want pizza and you don't want the human interaction of ordering them for delivery dominoes may have the solution for you. they tested a domicopter in the u.k. it is a drone for pizza. >> bill: wait a minute. >> peter: i am not making this up. >> bill: shoots the pizza to your house? >> peter: they did a test the other day, a little helicopter will carry your pizzas. you orderom pay for it online. it went four miles in 10 minutes. the pizza shows up at your door via drone helicopter. >> how does it get it from the sky to your door? >> it lands. it comes down >> bill: oh, no. how does it walk it to your door? >> peter: lands at your doorstep. here, you walk outside take your peace pizza as and because you have already paid online there is no interaction with any human whatsoever. it seems silly

>> bill: first of all, what are they going to do about hotel rooms am?>> peter: good point. >> bill: what about apartment buildings? >> peter: this is not perfect. >> bill: how many people live in an area where they have a big front yard and a front step. >> peter: it's not very big. it's the size of the pizza box. so you don't -- i am not supporting this idea. i am just saying, logistically, it's not much bigger than, you know, a pizza box. >> bill: here, all right. i just say, it's one more reason to get rid of drones. >> peter: okay. >> bill: as if we needed a reason. yesterday, the big political story of the day. this is an impact i nationwide because chris christie is huge. i am not -- that's not -- no. >> that's not a reflection on his ycorporal size. he is a huge figure in american politics no doubt about it and a

major potential player in 2016. remember, he gave the keynote address this last year at the republican national convention. he did a lousy job but people see him as a major player on the national scene. so we are all looking, a lot of republicans aren't happy about that because they don't think he is conservative enough. but a lot of republicans are saying, this is just the kind of guy that we need. certainly he is buddy-buddy with president obama. and so people are watching chris christie. yesterday, i believe, we saw chris christie who has coom across as a part sabring guy. i think the way he handled hurricane sandy, look i have been an opponent of chris christie for a long time a critic of his because of the way he treated teachers and public employees in the state of new jersey trying to blame all of the state's budget problems on them and wrecking their pensions and their healthcare benefits and refusing to pay them a

living wage. so, i am not your big chris christie defender here but i thought the way he responded to hurricane sandy was admirable. he did the right thing for the people of new jersey. and showing that, you know, he is a pretty smart guy politically. but yesterday, i believe he really laid an egg, and a political miss calculation that is transparent lip hypocritical political and self-serving. this had to do with the death of frank lauten berg. we talked about his legacy yesterday. on top of that so then as a result of that, chris christie gets to do two things: he gets to name an interim senator until -- and then he gets to call the -- until a special

election, which then, he gets to call. okay? so name an interim, call the special election. new jersey law is a little complicated. very complicated. it's not clear. you could go either way. you have to have a special election. but the special election could be this year 2013. or it could be next year 2014, when senator lauten berg's seat would be up for -- when he would have been up for reelection. so that's when that t a new six-year term for a senator in new jersey would be decided. and if it's this year, well everybody would say, well, okay. we've got -- this is june. we had the senate primary yesterday in new jersey, which, by the way, chris christie won for the republicans and barbara boneau won for the democrats. so the general election is in november. so if we are going to call a

special election this year then, let's just have it coincide, of course, to save money, with the general election already scheduled in november. so chris christie made this big announcement yesterday. first of all, he says this is important, that the people of new jersey have a voice and elect a senator as soon as possible. >> the citizens of new jersey need to have an elected representative to the united states senate and have it adds soon as possible. >> bill: so, he says in other words, i am going to name somebody else, but we need an elected senator as soon as possible. so that means he was not goting to wait until 2014. it's going to do it this year. and when he is going to do it this year, of course, that means he will do it in november when everybody else woman turning out to vote for governor, either to reelect him or to elect barbara become oneau. right? no. wrong. chris christie doesn't want

that. instead, what he did was he called yet a different special election in october, three weeks before the regular election. why would he do such a thing? he says because we need an elected senator, again, that clip as soon as possible. no. that's not why he did it. he did it because he knows that if there is a senate race on the ballot at the same time that he is running for reelection. and if the democratic nominee, it looks like for senate is going to be cory booker the popular mayor of new jersey a lot of democrats are going to come out to vote for cory booker in november. he doesn't want that. no. he doesn't want that because he's afraid they will take votes from him, and he wants to reallitiously really pile on barbara boneau in november so that that will catapult him to

being the top-running, the top republican for 2016. and so he's moving all that senate vote to october on to get that out of the way zocory booker won't be on the ballot at the same time as he is. first of all, what a cowardtiously and, two, what does he think? why would he have the people of new jersey pay for this little frolic of his? what do you think this is going to cost? reporters, of course asked chris christie that yesterday. >> i don't know what the cost is and i, quite frankly, don't care. i don't think you can put a price tag on what it costs to put someone in the united states senate. all of the people of the state of new jersey will benefit from it. we are not going to penny-wise and pound-foolish. >> he doesn't know the cost? i don't believe that for a second. of course any governor would say how much this is going to cost. of course he knows the costs. and then he doesn't care? i tell you the cost

>> it's $24 million. >> that's $24 million. the people of new jersey are going to have to pay so chris crist irving doesn't have to put up with cory booker being on the ballot at the same time he is. you know what? >> chicken -- you can say the other word. >> that's exactly what that is. and this is a governor, remember, who wouldn't pay teachers a living wage wouldn't pay their pensions wouldn't pay their healthcare benefits and yet is spending $24 million on an election nobody needs, nobody wants, nobody has to have. it ought to be in november. chris christie, big-time political mistake. what do you think? 866-55-press. not just the people of new jersey ought to be upset about this but especially the people of new jersey. sound off at 866-557-7377. let's talk about it. >> on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." [ music ]

(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

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[ music ] >> this is the bill press suppress show >> bill: you bet it is. 26 minutes after the hour now. talking about the big news from new jersey yesterday. chris christie saying uh-uh. i don't want any competition when i am on the ballot. i want that spotlight all to myself. >> that's one other thing. "so i am going to call a special election in october for the senate race, for the senate seat. and i'll name somebody," he said "to 'til fill that seat until october." then that person will have to run a year and a month later in november of 2014. one other thing, i mean, you

know how tough it is? we all know how tough it is to get people out to vote. do you think in new jersey they are going to come out to vote in off the and november. joanna calling from the west coast. >> caller: good morning, bill. i think the people of new jersey are going to be hopping mad. >> bill: i hope so. >> caller: spending this money. i went to high school with barbara boneau. my cousins is a teacher. they are not too happy to begin with him but the old christie is back. this is the real christie. >> bill: i know. i think you are right. i think that's the problem with this decision is all of that goodwill that he built up over hurricane sandy is going to dissipate over this. >> he has mr. mr. nice guy for the last few months. right. we will see. now, he is back. i like that. he is back to the old chris christie. wendy calling from parkland florida. hey, wendy. >> caller: good morning, bill. >> bill: good morning. >> caller: my question is: do the people of new jersey have any recourse in the legal

system? >> bill: that's a good question. democrats in the legislature have said that they are going to -- that they haven't filed it yet, but that they've at least talked about the possibility of challenging this notice courts. >> caller: i hope they do because it's so blatantly political, like i said. but like the caller before said, he's showing his true colors and it may be it will, you know get the people really invested in this election and get out in vote in both e lex and say, you know, we are not putting up with your baloney any more. >> bill: we will see. you know. if it will rile the people up. i certainly hope it will. i mean i ran a state-wide campaign in new jersey. i am not saying i am an expert on new jersey politics and i grew up across the river in delaware. i don't see the people of new jersey as just rolling over and taking this without a fight no matter how popular chris christie. i think this is a big, big

mistake. >> bill: >> this is "the bill press show." [ music ] (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision. the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv.

[ music ] >> bill: here we go on a wednesday morning, 33 minutes after the hour, on a wednesday, june 5th. great to see you today. we are coming to you live from our nations's capitol. the senate and the house back in session. a lot of fireworks on the hill yesterday. we are coming to you live from our, again, our studio here on capitol hill and brought to you

today by ullico incorporated under president he haded smith proudly serving the union workplace for over 85 years. offering risk solutions, investment products and services. to find out more about what they offer -- pardon me -- unions around the country visit the ullico.com. ullico.com. ullicoinc.solutions for the union workplace. on another topic president obama in the rose garden nominated three people, two women, one man already a judge to the u.s. district court of appeals here in the -- in washington, when is considered the second-most important court in the land. technically, it's on the same level as all of the other district courts around the country. but, of course, because it's in

washington, d.c., it gets some of the bigger cases. and several people have gone from that court to the supreme court. most recently chief justice john roberts. but the president yesterday in making his appointments talked a lot about the fact that the senate particularly senate republicans using the filibuster have been dragging their heels on judicial nominations and leaving so many of these seats vacant for so long there are today 79 vacancies on the district courts around the country. >> that's almost a 10% vacancy rate which slows the system of justice down for everybody seeking access to the courts. it means the workload piles up in all of these courts, which means more time, a long time before you get to trial, stretching out the trial.

they just can't handle that workload. the chief justice, himself, in his report last year said we've got to fill these variablingcancies, but republicans led particularly by chuck grassley in the senate have been dragging their heels on any nominations because why? because president obama nominated them and they know that once judge's are there, they are there for -- for the most part, for life. right? it's hard to unseat a district appeals court judge. they are not like supreme court justices, who are there for life, but the judicial branch has a lot of longevity unlike the legislative or the executive branch and that's really the legacy a president leaves behind. republicans are joining the legacy of george bush and they don't want to help create a legacy for barack obama.

they have been sitting on them for years. one, on the d.c. district court. how long has it been vacant? >> one of them has been vacant since chief justice roberts was elevated to the supreme court in 2005. anybody who values the role of our court should find that unacceptable regardless of your their party. >> that's amazing. >> bill: eight years, republicans have refused to approve anybody for that seat that john roberts left eight years ago. it's incredible? >> i heard that and i was stunned. eight freakin' years. >> these people who say they are for law and order? no, they are not. by the way, as the president just points out across the board, the number of vacancies left behind are just something went tolerate. >> fwoept ensure a fair and functioning judiciary, our courts cannot be short-staffed.

>> bill: now some of what these republicans are saying is, well there are too many judges so it's okay if we don't fill these seats because we should reduce the number of seats on these district courts. okay? as the president points out, there is a little hypocracy going on here. >> we know that because some of the same republicans behind this current proposal to reduce the number of seats on the d.c. circuit court floated 2007 to keep will 11 judges on the d.c. circumstanceit. same folks. >> bill: the same ones. they were saying at that time we need maximum number of judges on all of these courts under george w. bush. now they are saying you know what? maybe we ought to shrink the courts. it is so against -- blatantly political and hypocritical what they are doing. as jay carney yesterday at the briefing -- there was a lot of talk about this at the briefing yesterday. jay carney called it nakedly

political, what's going on with these nominations. again, some of them have been dragging on for years. right now, with the 79 vacancies, there are 26 that are pending. 26 qualified people named by the president are there in front of the united states senate. all of the work has been done. all of the vetting has been done. they are there, these 26 people. again, some of them have been there for years and years and years and years and the senate republicans have just refused to act. the president also pointed out yesterday: this is a problem in which some parties share some blame. the president has been slow to nominate people. in some cases where there has been a republican part,

democrats have tried to held up some nominees and the president, himself said yesterday, there is blame to go around but at the same time, right now there is no doubt about it. right now, the obstacle -- let me mention one other thing that democrats -- where democrats have -- share -- why they share part of the blame here because majority leader, harry reid, if you recall not so long ago, promised that he was going to fix the filibuster so the filibuster could not be used to stall judicial nominations. harry reid hasn't done that yet. so that's something else we've got to do. but again, for the most part of , the reason these judges haven't been confirmed, these nominees haven't been confirmed, the reason there are so many vacancies, the reason they have been sitting there for years and years and years is because republicans on the senate judiciary committee led by chuck grassley from iowa just simply

don't want president obama to have the opportunity to fill these seats and put people who may be more moderate and more fair-minded and less far right-wing than the people that george bush nominated, he doesn't want them to get that opportunity to serve on the bench. now, this is a big issue. i thought the president did the right thing yesterday by bringing attention to this. but, also. by naming three at one time. basically said don't accuse me of stalling. there are three vacancies. here they are. so he did his job. he put forth well-qualified people for these slots. two women, one man. now, it's the senate's job to advise and consent. you know what? they can vote no if they want to. but what they should not do is just sit on them for years and

years and years. you know, while we are at it, don't you think eight years is long enough for that john roberts seat? maybe we can get somebody in there? >> not exactly rushing things along. former governor eliot spitzer standing by to join us on the news of the day as he does every wednesday here on the full court press. we'll do that and be right back. >> this is "the full court press: the bill press show," live on your radio and on current tv. stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush?

>> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv.

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(vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking? [ music ]

>> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is the bill press show. >> bill: hey, hey hey hey. it's fifteen minutes before the top of the hour, on the full court press coming to you from our nation's capitol and we do our best to sort out the issues of the day every day but we can't do it as well as somebody who has actually been there in the front lines. all i do is talk about politics. here is a man who has practiced it and done it well former governor eliot spitzer of new york. we are happy to have him join us every wednesday morning. eliot, good morning. >> i love calling in here when you do that introduction. it just makes my week. thank you for those unnecessary and unearned words but what the heck. >> bill: what the hell? just enjoy it. right? i have great affection and respect for you. good to have you as part of the program. i have to ask you, so you have

been in the governor's chair. try to put yourself in chris kristi's news wheres there is the sad occasion of frank lauten berg and it's up to you to call a special election. he called a special election three weeks before the one that's already scanluxedheduled. >> this is the most crazy outrageous political crassness i have seen. this is a guy who has gotten more unearned affirmative adulation because after sandy, he embraced the president. that was a wonderful moment but he has been wrong on so many fundamental issues and this is just an example of the crazen way he plays economics. three weeks -- politics 24 million bucks on the state for purely personal political gain no, legitimate reason for this.

>> that's indicative. the contrast between him and lauten berg who was a gritty senator. cared about the issues from smoke to go gun control to health and the issue bizarrely that i remember working most with senator lauten berg with was on trains, things that were integral to the economy of new jersey. chris christie cancels the tunnel. what an insane move this was for chris christie pretending he was saving penney's and wastes this much on a special election. frank lauten berg was so upset about the cancellation of the critical infrastructure piece that chris christie did for hor horrendous partzan reasons, it was crazy. that little die tripe, you can see how i feel about chris christie. >> bill: what do you think the people of new jersey do here? i mean it is outrageous. this is a guy who wouldn't pay teachers a living wage. >> exactly. >> but will blow $24 million on this election because he is

afraid that if -- >> if core booker is on the ballot, his margin of victory will be not as great as it might otherwise be. first of all, i like cory but i am no expert. trust me on new jersey politics. it is not necessarily the case that cory will be the democratic nominee. there are a number of congress congressmen, members of congress who could announce serious challenges there. but either way, chris christie was merely trying to protect his margin of what he operating rooms will be a margin of victory. >> that's a horrendous way to make a judgment. >> bill: do you think that -- is there any legal challenge to this? does the legislature have -- i saw some democrats in the legislature saying they might challenge it in the courts. >> you know what? i don't know and i can't opine on that. i don't think so because i remember the only reason i say that is from the first moment that the options were being laid out, this was viewed as one of them. this, i can tell you having sat

in the governor's chair, you do have substantial latitude when to set special elections. there are statutes that define the parameters. so my guess is this was within that window. >> bill: i can we are what we are seeing here, a couple of our callers have made this this morning, this is the old christie. right? or the real christie coming back? we are seeing who christie really is. >> it's the real christie the christie who benefitted from the up surge of sandy popularity. that happens at moments of crisis and that's understandable and fine. >> that's a moment when leadership is called for and sometimes a visual is sufficient. having said that, this is the way he has governed. it is precipitous. often without careful thought and analysis and this is, you know, this is what he is all about. >> bill: former eliotgovernor eliot spitzer. you don't have to wait for every

wednesday morning. you can follow him on twitter twitter @eliotspitzer. eliot, i have to ask you, if you talk about lack of leadership boy, was it on display yesterday here in washington, d.c. when the top general rolaids from the gone came in front of kristen jillibrand in the senate on the question of sexual assault. she was on fire. and rightfully so. >> i think this is an issue that is gaining increasing traction, and as we say, not only rightly so but it's about time. the issue is one of how do you deal with the hierarchyical organization within its ranks has a cancer that has not been addressed. i think there has been a coalition. kristen has done well leading the charge. i am proud of her in new york. many senators, primarily women who looked at the brass in the militants and said enough is enough. wake up to the century you are living in.

>> bill: this idea that they say, well action you can't take this out of the chain of command, which is what kristen jillibrand and claire mccaskill want to do because this will diminish confidence. right? of the demanders of the military. >> yeah, you know, this is at one level you understand their mindset. but the military is all about chain of command. on the other hand, the whole way that you address structural issues in organizations where the chain of command has made it impossible for these critical issues to be heard and to be addressed is to say, no, you must circumhaven't the chain of command when it comes to fundamental abuses. i think that's what's going to happen. >> yet another hearing and i am sure we will have probably 50 more about the irs yesterday where a whole group of tea party leaders came in and said this is terrible. you know, the irs. look, we filed to be a social

welfare organization. and they doubted us. i want to ask you. is there. any doubt in your mind that every tea party group is a political group? >> here is the ivory in all of this. did he have the irony in all of. this there was something wrong with the way the irs handled this. the irs was right. these 501 c 4s, political organizations, masquerading as something else, it should have been addressed in a way that was bi-partisan, that looked at all of the organizations. the tea party is a political organization. they should not be 501 c 4s. but of course this is something that should be addressed across the board. and now, because people are afraid to stand up and say it, the tea party is getting away with something that really they probably shouldn't. >> the last thing we need is to give karl rove a tax break or any of the tea partyers. >> all of the groups on both sides of the aisle because political groups shouldn't be 501 c 4s. can i quickly --

>> yes. >> pivot to something that went on the. >> quickly. >> real quickly romminger federer lost. >> bill: big deal. yes. >> this is a pivot point in history. roger federer may see the end of his absolutely spectacular clear. >> it stinks where you see an athlete get to the points where they have outgrown the game a little bit. >> politicians on the downside. >> bill: i am glad you mentioned that. we should get that out there t eliot, great to talk to you as always. >> my pleasure. >> eliot spitzer, former governor of new york. >> this is "the bill press show." [ music ]

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[ music ] >> taking your e-mails on any topic trnths this is the bill press show, live on your radio and current tv. >> bill: juana summers from political pro joins us the next hour. we will also talk to buzzfeed wanda kramer. robert says determines are determined not to give obama an inch. it's instilled into them to think that way. lined a samuelson a big fan says i know you have no control over the future of current. i would just pray that all of the great political shows like you and john fugelsang will survive the impending programming changes. >> bill: so do we linda.

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[ music ] >> bill: good morning. good morning. good morning, my friends and neighbors. it is the full court press. welcome to the program here on current tv. and you know what we do? well for the in connection couple of hours we have remaining here this morning, we have a lot to talk about. we will bring you up to date on the news of the day and give you a chances to sound off about it. we will tell you what's going on here in our nation's capitol where you will find us on capitol hill in our little

studio on capitol hill. tell you what's going on here around the country and around the globe and you can sound off on the phone at 866-55-press, on twitter @bp show on facebook at facebook.com/billpressshow. big story here, biggest story in washington is the top generals from the pentagon cape to capitol hill yesterday and they got their asses kicked by women senators who accused them of ignoring ignoring, not understanding, and failing to fix the problem of sexual assault in the military. those women led by kristen jillibrand want to take the issue of sexual assault out of the chain of command of the military, and i think yesterday's hearing proved exactly why we have to do that. in other news, president obama naming three people to the second-most powerful court in the land and chris christie

socking the people of new jersey with an unnecessary $24 million special election. all of that right here on current tv. minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air

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the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv. >> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> bill: president obama's approval rating according to nbc latest poll, 48%, pretty good for a second-term president, a lot better than george w. bush was at this time. what do you say, everybody? hello, hello hello, hello and welcome, welcome to the "full-court press" right here on current tv. can you believe it? and on your local progressive talk radio station. we join you in radioland and

t.v. land and wilk our listeners and viewers both. and invite you to participate in the show. let your voices be heard right here at 866-55-press. >> that's our toll-free number. give us a call on the phone or send us your comments on twitter @bp show. become our friend on facebook. we want -- we need all of friends that we can get. on facebook, it's facebook.com/bill press show. here we go on a wednesday morning, june 5th. dan henning is still off on his honeymoon. he will be back on monday, but the rest of us are here on the job as always start with peter ogburn. hello, peter. >> peter: hello. it's been quiet without dan around. >> bill: i know it is. >> peter: he is usually starting all kind of fights and things like that. it's nice and quiet >> bill: enjoy the peace and quiet. still didn't get that post card from the honeymoon.

it will be all right. alicia cruz is busy seating our guests and taking the phone calls and cyprian boulding will be or is on the job with the cameras as always. >> he makes us look so goodwlding will be or is on the job with the cameras as always. >> he makes us look so good big news on the sports front. we don't exactly who and what's going to happen to them. but t. j. quin breaking the news yesterday that it looks like there has been -- always been rumors that some of the biggest names in major league baseball have been doping up with the help of a clinic down in florida called bio-genesis. the head of that clinic tony bosch, now in trouble on his own, so he is cooperating with investigate orders to, of course, reduce his own problems

with the law by naming names and showing records of people he has treated. major league baseball players he has treated over the years as granburying, tj quin from espn says yesterday when all of this comes out, some of these people action big names of baseball could be facing some major, major, major success spemingsz. >> thesegize it committed two offense one by being connected to tony bosch and when they spoke to mlb officials. >> they took the drugs. they lied about it the. i saw a headline that said a-rod, 100-game suspension. >> that's a projection. >> by the way. >> it could happen >> peter: i said 260 games. 160 games in the baseball season so we are talking about 100 games out of 162-game season, that's a big deal. >> it's a real big deal. >> for some of the biggest names

in baseball. we are joined this hour by a good friend for political pro covering defensibs on the hill. juana summers. juana, nice to see you? >> good to see you as well >> bill: you had a busy day yesterday? >> absolutely >> bill: you are going to tell us. what a hearing, kristen jillibrand was on fire and so was claire mccaskill. >> you saw the women of the senate put on a great show aggressively quelling the top military brass about the record number of sexual assaults again, very high-profile hearing for all of them yesterday. >> bill: we will get into that with juana summers and john yar yarmuth, congressman from kentucky as well. scott lily for the centre for american progress on what's happening in turkey into that hearing on sexual assault. >> this is the full court press. >> here is some other stories. here are some other stories that we are working on.

scientific proof that kids are jerks. a new study shows kids might -- >> that. >> exactly. a new study proves kids might just be as derained as the rest of us. a german study took kits between the ages of 4 and 8 and presented them with various stories. these stories included a child performing a good or a bad deed such as a girl climbing atree to collect them for her little brother or throw them and then experiencing a misfortune. in the case of falling from the tree, the kids found pleasure in the fact that the girl fell while trying to do something bad: kids as young as 4 experience that. so they found basically that kids that experienced the pleasure in that mis fortune are perceived to be a bad character and they root for bad things to happen to them. >> where was this study taken? >> in germany. >> i just point out end of

story. >> i don't know if this applies to the rest of the world. okay. >> have you ever wanted to know what new york tasted like? soon, you might be able to find out. ben and jerry's ice cream is set to have themed ice cream flavors called city churned and it will feature new york san francisco, seattle and portland or gone. these batches are highly exclusive, so exclusive that they are being offered for one day in the city that is being featured. i am not so sure that i want to know what washington, d.c. would taste like. >> bill: i am curious about what san francisco, portland and seattle taste like. seattle would take like coveffee. >> that would make sense a coffee-flavored ice cream. if it was washington, d.c., it would be made out of tears. you stay classy washington, d.c. the museum has announced they are creating an exhibit based upon "anchorman."

it coincides with the squill comes out in november. it will feature ron burgundy's jazz flute from the movie plus several of the the '70s styles costumes and the crist orders will get to is sit at the tophic /* typhic desk with the classic sign-off "you stay classy" and put in whatever city you like. >> nashville north carolina we will put it in. juana, what were the senators trying to accomplish? this was a hearing on the issue of sexual assault with the heads of all of the military different branches of the services and the chairman of the joint chiefs. correct >> sure. the clash is between military leaders who don't fem comfortable taking the responsibility for sexual assault crimes away from the chain of command and senators say we don't see it that way. you come to us every year on the hill.

you say this is a massive problem. you say you are embarrassed and you are outraged that people continue to sexually assault. >> the generals don't deny they have a problem. >> they absolutely don't deny you have a problem. they say this is unacceptable that people who come and volunteer to join the armed forces should not face threats from their fellow service members. they just don't favor as significant of a reform as senator jillibrand would like to see. >> bill: how do they explain the fact that the numbers keep going up? we saw this report 26,000 cases, not all of which were reported but 26,000 cases against men and women. right? which is after the ron omcally higher than it was just a few years ago. >> absolutely. stron omcally higher than it was just a few years ago. >> absolutely. what you hear from military leafeders is that is cultural change that needs to happen on their rarningz and they are

focused on training and educating members. it's important to note they favor some reform. the jillibrand bill they said they think it would be dangerous for demand structure but there has been some support for a proposal led by nikki in the house and mike turner. it would take some power away from commanders, for example, to overturn court martial convictions as you saw in the two very high profile cases. that will set minimum sentencing if someone is found guilty or accused of or attempting or completing sexual assault, rape or sodomy that person would be at minimum, dishon al-y discharged. >> they are willing to go along with those. >> that has the support of the secretary. >> peter, i will go again to senator jillibrand certainly the most famous sound byte of the day yesterday, when she basically said these guys, you don't have a clue. >> every single commander

necessarily wants women in the force. not every single commander believes what a sexual assault is. not every single commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape. >> you don't usually hear language like that from members of the senate. >> absolutely not but that's really the headline of the day. >> yeah. >> this isn't about rape and sexual assault. it's a crime of power. it is a violent crime. not about seeing someone you find attractive and let's take them out on a date. this is a violent crime that changes people's lives radically. >> and what she is saying, basically, is you don't get it. right? you just don't get it. >> you hear about so much from her and lawmakers from across the capitol that for years the military brass has talked about it. it's becoming clear they cannot handle this, themselves and that they have chosen not to for quite some time. >> that's the message i heard flu senator jilli propped. >> people talk about the wilkerson case? correct? >> absolutely. it's an air force case in which

an air force commander overturned a conviction for a number of reasons including doubts about the person who was assaulted's testimony but there wasn't justification given. >> that's what that bill speaks to is that you shouldn't just be able to walk in, take a court marshal finding and say gee, i don't like that finding. let me overturn that. >> and wilkerson was convicted of rape and sexual -- rape? >> absolutely. >> sent to prison? >> and his commander overturned that court martial verdict allowing wilkerson back into the force. >> the peter if we can ray oderno, the head of the army general ray odierno. this is the second where he talked about why the leaders of the military including the defense secretary thinks there is a problem with taking this out of the chain of command. >> to undermine the readiness of the force, inhibit our commander

ability to shake the discipline of our units. it will hamper the timely delivery of justice to the very people we wish to help the victims and survivors of these horrific crimes. >> bill: do those arguments hold up? >> you know, they seem to ring pretty hollow for focus like senator jilli propped but talking to some folks who have served in the military bud mckean, the head of the house armed services committee there is a concern if we make reforms too fast in the uniform code of military justice, the law that governors the military prosecutions could be hurt. so i think that's why you might seem more moderate senators >> some democrats a little bit slower to pick up senator jillibrand's proceedposal. without that, you are going to continue to see people not reporting, not feeling safe enough to come forward and saying i am a service member and i have been raped and assaulted and i want justice. >> i find it ironic that they

say this will under mine confidence on the chain of command. there is none given their history and given their record. you touched on something i wanted to ask about next which is the incidents of reporting. i mean there were witnesses who spoke to this yesterday. many people are afraid to come forward because they fear retaliation. >> for sure. bill, i see the folks who are victims of sexual assault on a daily basis. most of them haven't reported because they felt like their jobs would be at rick, that they would be at risk for retaliation, they could actually be -- the military didn't want to deal with them. so they could be discharged dishonorably and claimed they had a condition or something rather than the military dealing with this. so i can speak to the fact that i hear it every day. there is a huge fear of retaliation. that's why you see that there were supposedly 26,000 assaults that took place last year, just about 3300 people actually reported them. >> that's a tiny fraction.

>> 3300 out of 26,000? >> a glaring fraction of what actually happened if you believe the pentagon study. >> is -- this is a vote untear forced to. given the laxity of the military in taking actions on cases of sexual assault, could that end up in people who are -- i mean sexual predators seeing the military basically as angopportunityang opportunity? >> i heard that. ists speaking on the document occur of the director of "the invisible war" the other day. he made the point sexual authorities are allowed to thrive in this cut tour now we have this issue and maybe it won't be right now as we are ending conflicts in iraq and afghanistan. 5 or 10 years later, if i am looking at my options, do i want

to join the snilt military like seem like a scary place to go. >> senator mccain spoke to that yesterday as well. ? >> he did. he suggested that he would have a very hard time telling a woman if she asked him, should i join the military, he would have a hard time ensuring her safety looking at what's going on there right now. >> would you feel comfortable joining the military knowing what you know about it? >> that's a tough one. i have a lot of respect for our servicemen and women and i come from a military family. my dad is a marine. i don't know what i would do if i was in that situation. it would be a really hard choice but it's not so pretty in the civilian road when you look at 1 in 4 women on college campuses this is a problem that goes far outside the armed forces. >> juan a summers reports on political issues for political pro. here ready to take your calls and comments on this issue. it is a very serious issue, and

i admire republican and democratic women who have gotten on this issue and saying we are not going to put up with inaction on this any longer. you know the toll-free number. we will be right back. >> this is "the bill press show." [ music ] ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. do not take viagra if you take nitrates for chest pain; it may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. side effects include headache, flushing upset stomach, and abnormal vision. to avoid long-term injury, seek immediate medical help (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. (vo) she's joy behar. >>current will let me say anything.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do

care about them right? >> republicans are going to have a field day with this one, given she is, of course, a figure at the sentence he ofs those talking points used on sunday

shows on the attack of september 11th and benghazi libya. >> bill: you sort of knew. right? that susan rice did not become secretary of state there would be another position for her because she is close to president obama. and i think she has done an outstanding job. i am a big huge, susan rice fan. i think she has done an outstanding job at the united nations. i think she got a bad wrap on benghazi but you knew the president was going to find something else for her. she is back. >> this is not a surprising move. this was certainly expected for a couple of weeks. what will be interesting is just how far republicans go during the most recent benghazi hearings. the attention has been playing a former secretary of state clinton. % i think a lot of old susan rice attacks you saw are going to come back to haunt her as she is pressed into this new role >> bill: where we started on

this issue of sexual assault in the military, i want to ask you about the fact that so far, the white house and the it defense secretary, their position is supporting the generals. isn't it? >> i would say that's maybe -- secretary of defense chuck hagel said about three or four weeks ago that he didn't really favor reforms that would take power away from the chain of command. recently, however, pentagon press secretary george little has said the secretary is open to whatever it takes and seems to have backed away from that. you have not heard the white house comment while the president and vice president joe biden have said that they are outraged. there was that white house meeting with valerie jerrod and about 16 lawmakers. they haven't endorsed any specific legislation yet. >> i think the pretty, a lot of pressure on the white house to come out and support the jimmy brand proposal. we will see what happens on that.

juana summers. you have a lot of work to do. thank you for coming in? >> thanks for having me. >> this is "the bill press show" show". >> thanks for having me. [ music ] (kaj) jack, how old are you? >> nine. (adam) this is what 27 tons of marijuana looks like. (vo) with award winning documentaries that take you inside the headlines. way inside. (christoff) we're patrolling the area looking for guns, drugs bodies ... (adam) we're going to places where few others are going. [lady] you have to get out now. >> lots of terrible things happen to people growing marijuana. >> this crop to me is my livelihood. >> i'm being violated by the health care system. (christoff) we go and spend a considerable amount of time getting to know the people and the characters that are actually living these stories. (vo) from the underworld to the world of privilege. >> everyone in michael jackson's life was out to use him. (vo) no one brings you more documentaries that are real, gripping, current.

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[ music ] >> this is "the bill press show." >> bill: yes, it is. "full-court press" on a wednesday moj, june 5, '33 minutes after the hour. you will find us perched right here on capitol hill in washington, d.c. keeping our eye on what's going on here in our nations's capitol around the country and around the globe brought to you today by the national education association, the great men and women of the nea creating graduate public schools for every student in

america. we salute our teachers and the members of the nea under president dennis van roekel for more information about their good work and all of the issues that are involved in go to the website, nea.org. again, breaking news president obama am today will announce that tom donland has resigned as his national security advisors, a job he held for the last four years. he will be replaced by susan rice who has also done an outstanding job as our ambassador to the united nations. the president will also name today -- and we are not sure what is that gob, our next ambassador to the united nations. susan rice, a very, very smart, tough, i think, great leader. she has been -- has gotten a lot of unfair criticism because of

the talking points that she was given and she used the morning -- or the sunday after the benghazi attacks. republicans are certainly going to do everything they can to block her. i don't think -- we have to double-check that, peter. i don't think her nomination that that position as national security advisors ig that's one the president can name on his own. i don't think it requires senate confirmation. but well, as juan a summers said when she was leaving the studio just a couple of minutes ago, i asked her, when do you think the first republican attack will come out against susan rice? and she said does anybody know where darryl issa is this morning? he will probably be the first one out there. >> by the way, does not require senate confirmation. >> yeah. >> i am sure darryl issa probably already called a hearing. >> i am sure. >> exact. so we will get into that a little bit more here in the broadcast as we get more information to bring to you. meanwhile, the big political

news yesterday, governor chris christie up in new jersey saying, i know i've got to do it. i know i have got to call a special election, but boy, i don't want any special election to interfere with me, me, me me, me, and my reelection or chance for reelection in november. so i am going to call a special election just to replace frank lauten berg and elect the new interim senator for new jersey. and i am going to call it in october ruby kramer. >> thanks for having me on >> bill: what is his motivation for an october special election. >> i think chris christie did the one thing that could piss off both democrats and republicans here, which is admirable, i think. >> impressive if nothing else. >> blessive. he managed to do it. no, i mean like you were saying

you know, chris christie could have had the special election in november of 2014, but he said -- he said that was just way too long to wait that the people of new jersey deserved -- >> right. >> an elected representative in office that they chose not an appointee for 18 months. >> bill: we are not going to wait until 2014. we are going to do it in 2013. right? >> right so then, he theoretically could have had like you were saying, election in november of 2013, when his own -- during the same november where his own name will be on the ballot for rely but a lot, you know, many have speculated he didn't want that because then then, a top candidate for senate like new york's mayor cory booker who is popular would be at the top of the ballot instead of christie which would then hurt him. anyway, christie comes out, says he wants it in october. there are con conflicting statutes on this. there is one statute that doesn't -- there is one new jersey statute that doesn't say,

you know, you have to have your special election within a certain amount of days. there is another statute that does clarify, you know, a time period where you have your specially. so he does have legal justification for this and, you know, what he was saying all day yesterday was he wanted to do it as soon as possible. >> bill: that's what he said. i have been working for the governor of california and as state democratic chair of california at one time. i have been through a lot of these special e elections. it's just assumed if you have to call a special election and there is already going to be an election within a very, you know, brief period of time that you combine the two. and one of the reasons you do so is because these statewide e elections cost a lot of money. >> right. >> i want to play for you and our listeners chris christie is

asked by reporters, one of the first questions, obviously, is: how much is this going to cost? >> i don't know what the cost is. and i quite frankly don't care. i don't think you can put a price tag on what it's worth to have an elected person in the united states senate. i will do whatever i need to do to make sure those costs are covered because all of the people of the state of new jersey will benefit from it and we are not going to be pennywise and pound foolish around here. >> ruby kramer any way chris christie does not know the cost of the election he is calling? >> his advisors have told him what it cost. that number is out there. there is an estimate of -- there are estimates i have seen ranging from 12 million to 24 million, that the 12 million i have seen is the one that's more floated more often. you have to cover costs like for everything that you could possibly think of. ballot printing, postage, processing. >> 8. >> voting machine delivery, the number of polling places you have to staff. >> yeah. >> meanwhile, there is going to

be ab election that has been scheduled. >> right. >> for months, in three weeks after the senate special election. >> "new york times" by the way this morning, i had seen the $12 million figure, too, which is the one i had been using. "new york times" and others i saw this morning are reporting $24 million. this is whether it's 12 or 24, it's money that does not have to be spent. it could be saved by waiting three weeks, and then the other issue, it seems to me is, do you really think the people of new jersey are going to come out and vote in october and come out three weeks later and vote in november? >> right. >> that's a lot -- democrats in the state have a huge problem because it's going to affect voter turn out and they have been mark making the argument it's a detriment to democracy and going to hurt not only the senate race but, also the democratic raining against chris christie barbara boneau and

battling, you know, the turnout as much turn out as she can get because she is lagging by about 30 points in the poles against him. >> chris christie got a big boost in his personal popularity and i thought he did very well in responding to hurricane sandy and getting every bit of support and help he could get for the people of new jersey. his popularity is up around 70%. so do you really think are we to believe it having cory booker on the ballot would hurt chris christie that badly? >> i am not going to speculate about what would happen but i think we can all assume, you know no, i don't think that would have affected chris christie. i also think chris christie is

the kind of person who would have just as easily come out and said, you know, i will take cory booker at the top of my ballot. who are is running for senate two different elections. it happens, by the way, right? all the time. right? >> right. >> all the time if you've got somebody running. sometimes in november, right? you've got -- you have to vote for a president. you vote for governor. you for senate. they are on the ticket at the same time. american people can deal with that. i just -- i find, i guess, that kristi's reasoning behind this is just so transparently political and self-servicing. as you said, you start out by saying, he managed to piss off both democrats and republicans. >> i don't think republicans will be happy, you know, with the spending for the special election especially after they and christie have vetoed the --

i don't like, you know funding for planned parenthood or funding for early voting, for example on the state of the basis of them being too expensive in the beaumont. >> he cancelled the new tunnel into new york city. >> exactly. >> went after teachers and their pensions and healthcare plans but blowing 24 million on this election. so, he said he would appoint someone. he said it will be a republican. so he's gone that far. he doesn't seem too concerned about this interim republican employee to be honest. he didn't really say yesterday who he was thinking about. he kind of joked about having a short list that was around 100 people. i mean, he wasn't really committed to the idea of trying to, like help republicans out in the senate at article.

he didn't really seem to care about who this appointee was. and seemed much more focused on the special election. >> do we know do you know if geraldo her a is on the short list? >> it's a shame, her and geraldo said when frank lautenberg passed away that he was not considering running any more. i was very disappointed. >> bill: too bad. all of us were. ruby, thanks so much for sfoining us this morning. appreciate it. >> thanks a lot. >> ruby kramer follows politics for buzzfeed.com. we are big fans of buzz feed here they do a lot of great work on many differently fronts including covering politics. >> this is "the bill press show."

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[ music ] >> this is "the bill press show." >> here we go twelve minutes before the top of the hour 679 always happy to hear from the people of new jersey about what you think about your governor today. that 70% popularity might be sinking like a rock today for chris christie in new jersey. why should the people of new jersey have to pay $24 million just so he can have a special election in october so that there won't be so many democrats turning out perhaps to vote in

november. i mean so he's not happy winning by five points. 10 or 15? autz all about chris christie $24 million. tell us what you think at 866-55-press. meantime, this is a story from new york state and not not -- upstate new york not new jersey. it proves that identity theft is everywhere. federal authorities say a 25-year-old woman up in syracuse has been ordered to pay more than $55,000 in restitution and sentenced to five years in prison for falselyly using personal information from four different people to get loans and credit cards. protect yourself against identity theft like i have with lifelock ultimate, the most comprehensive id test.

it can't protect you or your bank account if you are not a mer. give them a call and mention press10 and get 10% off of your lifelock ultimate membership. call 1-800-5567 for life lock ultimate 1-800-356-5967. again, now, the white house has confirmed that president obama -- we don't know the time for it quite yet, but president obama will make a big personnel announcement today on three fronts. number 1, national security advisor tom donnelly a good man, has served the president and the america people very well, that he will step down after serving four years as national security advisor in the white house. he will be he will be replaced by susan rice, the embattled but very

effective, i believe, u.s. -- u.s. ambassador to the united nations. susan rice who was a close advisor to the president on the foreign policy all during his campaign. susan rice again outstanding job at the united nations where she got in a little hot water, took a lot of unfair criticism, i believe, was after the attacks in benghazi. she was the one who went out on the talk shows on the sunday following the attacks to tell what we knew at the time, what intelligence agencies told us at the time about those attacks. it turned out to be not the complete story for sure. it turned out to be en more serious than we felt tellat the time. it turned out that there was a lot -- there were definitely --

there were definitely terrorist ors involved in some of those protests which we did not know at the time. and success an rice, herself, said, this is what i have been told. this is what we are working on. this is not necessarily the way things are. and as more information comes out, we will tell you about more information. despite those qualifications, republicans especially have hammered her for not telling the truth, accusing her of trying to deceive the american people. and so that controversy shot down any possibility that she might have been named the next secretary of state to replace hillary clinton. but we all knew that president obama, loyal to his friends, good for him that susan rice, a good person, and a strong and effective person would be getting another big job in the obama administration and here it is she will be our next national security advisor. that does not require senate confirmation. and so action the republicans in

the senate -- i love it. i love it. this is president obama's way of getting back at them his way of putting an effective person in a good position to do a good job and do some good for the american people these republicans like darryl issa and others are going to have to bitch and scream and moan about it but there is nothing they can do about it. good for her. and look forward to that nomination. and we will also find out a little bit later today who is going to replace her at the united nations. we will tell you what the president is up to today and somehow we will leave a hole for that big personnel announcement. we are trying to figure out where that's going, too. coming back here on the "full-court press." >> this is "the bill press show," live on your radio and current tv.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right?

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>> this is the bill press show. >> bill: three minutes before the top of the hour congressman john yarmuth, good friend from kentucky will be here in the next hour as well as scott lily from the center of american progress who has been following a very disturbing situation in turkey t looks like maybe this is the turkey spring. we will find out from scott lily. look at the president's schedule today. as announced by the white house, the president will be getting the daily briefing at 10:15 this morning. meeting with the section terri of the treasury, jack lew and at 12:00 noon in the east room -- no. i'm sorry. on the south lawn. they had to move it out there

because there are so many of them. he will be greeting the super bowl champion baltimore ravens. >> wow. >> you know, the whole game from balmore. >> go ravens. >> you think barbara mccull ski is going to be there? >> you damn right she will. >> good senator ben carden and steny hoyer. the governor of mraerld all going to be there. >> that's all the president has on the schedule. jay carney has a briefing at 1:00 o'clock. somewhere, maybe looks like this afternoon or the president could squeeze it in this morning. he is going to make the big anow is ment accepting tom doneley's resignation and naming susan rice as our next national security advisor. we will be back with one more hour of the "full-court press." >> this is "the bill press show."

[ music ] bill >> bill: hey, good morning, friends and neighbors. it's wednesday june 5th. great to see you today. welcome to the "full-court press." right here on current tv wherever you happen to be in this great land of ours we are there for you. we are there with you to talk about the issues of the day and take your calls at 866-55-press. our toll-free number take your comments on twitter @bp show and look forward to having you as a friend on facebook at facebook.com/bill press show what time a day? fireworks on the hill yesterday. the the top generals from the pentagon came to the united states capitol and got their asses kicked by female senators

or women senators of both parties who accused these generals of ignoring not understanding and failing to fix the problem of sexual assault in the military. women senators want to take that issue of sexual assault, out of the way of command of command and yesterday's hearing was a good demonstration of why we have to do that. in another news, president obama about today to name susan rice as the next national security advisor to the united states. yesterday, he named three new people to the u.s. district court of appeals, second most powerful court in the land. and chris christie has decided to soak the people of new jersey with $24 million for an unnecessary special senate election. all of that coming up right here on current tv. [ music ] minutes we're going to do the young turks! i think the number 1 thing than viewers like about

the young turks is that were honest. they know that i'm not bsing them for some hidden agenda, actually supporting one party or the other. when the democrats are wrong, they know i'm going to be the first one to call them out. cenk on air>> what's unacceptable is how washington continues to screw the middle class over. cenk off air i don't want the middle class taking the brunt of the spending cuts and all the different programs that wind up hurting the middle class. cenk on air you got to go to the local level, the state level and we have to fight hard to make sure they can't buy our politics anymore. cenk off air and they can question if i'm right about that. but i think the audience gets that, i actually mean it. cenk on air 3 trillion dollars in spending cuts! narrator uniquely progressive and always topical the worlds largest online news show is on current tv. cenk off air and i think the audience gets, "this guys to best of his abilities is trying to look out for us." only on current tv!

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iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the conversation started weekdays at 9 eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. the troops love me. tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. (vo) sharp tongue. >>excuse me? (vo) quick wit. >> and yes, president obama does smell like cookies and freedom. (vo) and above all, opinion and attitude. >> really?! this is the kind of stuff they say about something they just pulled freshly from their [bleep]. >> you know what those people are like. >> what could possibly go wrong in eight years of george bush? >> my producer just coughed up a hairball. >>sorry. >>just be grateful current tv doesn't come in "smell-o-vision" >> oh come on! the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo)only on current tv.

>> broadcasting across the nation, on your radio and on current tv this is "the bill press show." >> we have a new national security advisor to the president of the united states and she is u.n. ambassador susan rice. good morning, everybody. with that bit of breaking news we start off our third hour tomorrow this morning. the full court press coming to you live. progressive talk radio station. how lucky you are if you have got one. we are coming to you live on current tv everywhere in the 50 united states of america from our studio here on capitol hill in washington, d.c., good to see you today. a lot of breaking news of the day. a lot of ongoing stories with the senate and the house back in town, we'll cover as many of them as we can for you and take as many comments as we can from

you by phone at 866-55-press, on twitter @built p show and on facebook if you are our friend at facebook. if you are not, why not? at 8 bill -- i'm sorry. facebook.com/billpressshow. i will get it right, finallies peter? >> peter: so many ways to reach out and touch us it gets done fusing. >> bill: we are pleased to be joined in studio for this first half hour together with -- by one of our good friends from the state of kentucky, united states congressman john yarmuth. good to see you. >> great to be here. >> bill: got your summer? ? >> i am ready. not seersucker? >> i will wait a few more weeks for that. >> welcome. i am glad to be here.

>> bill: welcome back. peter ogburn handling the cameras, cyprian bowlding. the cameras covered. on the issue of sexual assault in the military, congressman, it was, leading this effort in the house and in the senate it's been senator kirsten jillibrand. she told this assembled group of pentagon chiefs yesterday they didn't know what the hell they were talking about when it came to sexual assault. here she is. >> every single commander necessarily wants women in the force? not every single commander believes what a sexual assault is. not every single commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape. >> whoa. >> no doubt putting it out there. right? >> that was wonderful. >> but she does speak to the fact that this has been going on for so long and these guys just seem to don't have a clue.

right? >> exactly right. and, you know, i admired krister for the stand she is taking. al former of mine part of the same class in 2006 and she's really grown and in stature and influence in the senate. i am glad to see her dictate that stance. it's an important one. >> do you think that the -- that the chain of command -- pardon me -- the chain of command would be undermined if we take this final resolution of cases of sexual assaulted out of their hand? >> i don't know how you do anything else when you have 26,000 or so rapes a year and only a handful are actually prosecuted. clearly >> the system is broken and if you continue to allow the chain of command to bury all of this stuff, that's what's going to happen. so i think the only way is to break it. >> bill: they say, you know, it will undermine confidence in our commanders. i think that's a problem is people don't have confidence in their commanders today to do the right thing. >> exactly right.

>> in too many cases where commanders have said, where someone has been convicted of a sexual assaulted and then the commander said no. no. no. no. no. i know the family or i know this guy and, you know, it's the good ol' boys. and, again, i mean this is intolerable. so we've got to take it out of their hands. >> bill: so congressman john yarmuth with us this first half hour. at the half we will be joined by scott lily from the septembercenter of american congress where we will find out what's going on turkey. let's start with the bracking news of the day. susan rice our new national security advisor. the president's president's going to make that announcement later today. she doesn't remember senate confirmation. >> that's a good thing. >> probably. you know because republicans nonetheless, are going to jump all over this, i am sure because of her comments on benjamin. unfairly criticized for that?

>> i think very unfairly criticized. the documentation is pretty clear at this point that what she was doing when she we want on the talk shows after the benghazi attacks, she was basically voicing what the state of knowledge was at the time with the intelligence community and it was rapidly changing. we were briefed within days of the event, and we were told the same thing basically, we are not sure what happened and anything is subject to change. so it's been unfair and the important thing is she is a very, very talented, experienced person and the president has high confidence in her and to make her national security advisor probably puts nary role that she is entirely suited for and again, i think the president has the right to get the best advice he can. >> bill: she is great, i think. i am a big fan of hers. by the way, since at the top of the how are we found out that the person who will be no, ma'am knighted take her place as

the -- our ambassador to the united nations it former white house aide salmonmantha power. she just left the white house in february. she was there also as part of the president's national security team. she has two young children. one, 3 and the other 8 months old some of the when she said she needed alternates time with her family, she was telling the truth. but she said february to june and it looks like she is going to be back on the track here and serving the president, serving us all as our ambassador to the united nations, another very talented woman. >> absolutely. it will be interesting to see how the senate handles that one. >> she will require -- that position does require senate confirmation. speaking about senate confirmation, congressman, they haven't been too quick to act on judicial nominees. yesterday, the president we want out -- peter, let's pull up the president here they say that

some of these vacancy have been around like a long time. i don't think anybody knows how long they have been around. but the president pointed one of them out yesterday when he was making these three nominations in the rose garden. >> one of them has been vacant since chief justice roberts was elevated to the supreme court in 2005. another who values the role of our court should find that unacceptable, regardless of your property. >> eight years to confirm a judge for the -- to pick up the seat. why are the republicans doing this? >> well, clearly they want to make sure to the best that they can that they get conservative judges there so they would just rather not confirm anybody than confirm something, somebody who is appointed by portsmouthresident obama. it's an outrage. they have a constitutional responsibility to consider the nominations of the president and to advise and consent and

holding them up for these -- this length of time, i think now the average judicial nomination is probably 6 months long from nomination to confirmation. and, you know, in the past, that's been a matter of weeks in most cases. it's obviously partisan and i think it's a der lection of their duty. >> right. got all of these dutiesjudges appointed by bush. it sort of goes with the territory. every president normally gets to appoint their judges and then they are -- you consider whether they have the qualifications for the. and if so, you know, you vote up or down but you don't just sit on it forever. >> this is just part of the ongoing republican strategy of nullification, to nullify thely of president obama and to nullify many of the laws that were passed by refusing to confirm heads of bureaus that were created by law just likely the cfpb, the consumer financial

protection bureau. they said they are not going to approve a head of that agency regardless of who that is. it's outrageous. >> is this a failure to act on judicial nominations? do you think any impact like, in your state for example? >> we have three vacant judicial seats that at the district court level right now. and we have in one case a judge who has taken senior status. and he continues to sit on cases so there hasn't been a huge disruption but there is a question of how long he will be able to do that. >> workload is piling up? >> workload is piling up. from what i understand most of the problems with workload occur at the border. these are immigration cases that really saturated the courts along the border. these are positions that have been filled historically and established by law f there are

too many seats, then the senate ought to act to reduce them. but i know particularly at the second circuit, at the dc circuit where the president just made the three appointments, you've got the case load is not as important as the complexity of the cases. all of these cases -- not all of them but most of them concern very complex federal law, agencies, so forth, and these are the cases that require an awful lot of time and detail. so it's not the shear number of cases. it's how much work's involved. >> bill: which is why this court is considered the send most powerful court in the land. >> exactly. they can act quickly because they just confirmed a judge there is that ver expeditious way by 97 to nothing was the vote. so it's not -- i don't think they have the -- the republicans have problems with the people who -- the qualifications of the people the president is

sendingly up. they just don't want to give them the spot. >> the "new york times" makes a spot and jay carney made it yesterday. the president has done his job find qualified people and nominate them. now, it's the senate's job to as you say, as the constitution requires, advise and consent. right? >> right. >> look them over. make sure they are qualified and vote up or down. >> vote up or down. >> you mentioned workload, congressman. so, the congress is back in town this week. so with a majors piece of legislation are we going to see come out of the house this week? you have been off on break for 10 days. >> well, actually for a change. >> what are you going to deliver. >> we are actually doing something productive this week. >> i can't believe it. no. really? >> yeah. yesterday, we passed an appropriations bill, what's called the milcon bill of military construction. obviously the military construction plus veterans'

programs, benefits. it was overwhelmingly almost a nam vote for it. the president's threatened to ve veto it not because he disproves of the spending levels and the bill or the substance of the appropriations bill. >> rogers in it? >> well, no. what the republicans have done is they have said overall discretionary spending is going to be $968,000,000,000. >> that's everything including the military everything discretionary but they are appropriating levels that would basically/spending on everything else. so the military construction bill, the department of defense appropriations which we are going to be dealing with. they basically appropriated those with levels at $1.05 trillion. so $91 billion difference in what the -- everybody agreed upon back in 2011 and now they

are saying no, we are going to appropriate at the sequestered level. so, basically, going to -- when they appropriate at a higher level for military that means domestic spending gets slashed. >> yeah. >> totally gets slashed. so the president threatens to veto that for this reason. this is not going to be the final figure. the senate is not going to go along with it. in a sense, it's typical of what we do, which is pass things in the house that aren't going anywhere and everybody knows that. but at least this is something that's part of our responsibility and we did that. >> bill: and democrats voted for it, too? >> yes. yes. it was virtually unanimous >> bill: but this is another case as you pointed out of a house built, something passing the house and then a house bill that you know is doa when it gets to the senate. >> absolutely. >> another thing that some

members of the house -- one other thing you accomplished yesterday, another hearing on bolstering the tea party groups saying this is terrible. we applied to the irs as a social welfare organization and they didn't just automatically stamp it. i mean they took time to actually look it over. they didn't deny us but they took so long. is there any doubt in your mind every one of these tea party groups is, in fact a political operation? >> well using the actual language the irs uses now there is no question they are primarily a political organization. the law says you have to be exclusively non-political, and but the -- they are interpreting it as primarily, these groups are primarily political. they may not be exclusively complicbut they basically have flipped the entire intent of the statute. when they are complaining about having to reveal their facebook

pages and their -- >> yeah. >> that's where so much of our politics occurs right now. i don't know how in the world you can complain about that. yes agree with the irs targeting organizations basically by name. but am, you know the whole idea that these organizations are political organizations, that's there is no doubt in my mind the republicans you make such a big deal is they want to scare the irs off from doing its job so that all of these right-wing political organizations, namely, will get tax-exempt status and we taxpayers will end up subsidizing them. ? >> right. >> you are the gang of 8 in the house. we want find out how the immigration thing -- lots to talk about.

so glad you are in, congressman john yarmuth. your calls welcome at 866-55-press. >> radio meets television, "the bill press show" now on current tv. [ music ] when the chocolate is hershey's, life is delicious. building up to this. >>bill shares his views, now it's your turn. >>i know you're going to want to weigh in on these issues. >>connect with "full court press with bill press" and on twitter at bpshow. >>i believe people are hungry for it. perfectly bite sized drops of rich and creamy chocolate happiness. when the chocolate is hershey's, life is delicious.

this show is about analyzing criticizing, and holding policy to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do

care about them right? [ music ] >> this is the bill press show. >> 26 minutes after the hour now here visiting from congressman john yarmuth from kentucky. we just learned during the break that the president will make his announcement about susan rice at 2:15 this afternoon in the rose garden. so, i will be there tweeting out

some photographs from there and reporting firsthand. congressman, you told us the last time you were in, that you are a member of the gang of 8 that's been working on the immigration reform, the house version of it. what's the latest? >> well, we are in the final negotiating moments, i guess. we have one issue left to resolve. and it's a tough one. but we have negotiated in good faith. >> can you tell us what it is? >> it involves healthcare. basically, it's how do you you describe or how do you write and create a policy in a makes sure that the federal taxpayers, at the federal level r not subsidizing the healthcare of what we call probationary immigrants, people here illegally working toward legal status. and it's very, very tough to do. the senate basically dealt with it by saying there just won't be any subsidies under the affordable care act.

and thing left it at that basically kicking it down the road. we are trying to kick it down the road as well. we have a difference of opinion as to how to do that whether our group's bill is the one that's acted on in the house or whether there are other bills like the ones that the judiciary committee chairman goodwillath, we are going to read a -- we are going to move a bill immigration reform i am sure. congressman, we covered a lot of territory. you have a lot of work to do today. we will let you go. thank you for coming in. ? >> this is "the bill press show." [ music ]

>> keith with the bill press show on twitter. follow us at bp show and tweet using the hash tag watchingbp. >> 3 minutes after the hour on the full court pres -- 3 minutes after the hour, breaking news this morning if you are just joining us. by the way, i should say we are also coming to you live from our nation's capitol brought to you today by the international association of iron workers, good men and women of the iron workers' union under president walterwise. the sky is the limit for them indeed. find out more about their great work at their website, www.iron workers.organize. so breaking news this morning, tom donelin resigning as our national security advisor at

2:15 this afternoon. the president will announce that susan rice will be taking tom donelin's place. susan rice capup, up in the a great job there for the last four years. she will be replaced by former white house aide foreign policy advisor samantha power. that this afternoon. on the foreign policy front, a lot of questions at the briefing yesterday yesterday. scott lil y at the center for american progress, our great liberal think tank here in washington, d.c. just back from turkey joining united states on our news line on -- in our newsroom this morning, our studio this morning, hey, scott. how are you? >> good to be with you bill. >> bill: we were in turkey last year, carol and i for thanksgiving in istanbul and ephesus. but it was very clear that there

was a lot of tension whether it was ticking to the past or moving into the future kind of what direction they were going. this all sort of erupted last thursday over what's the issue? >> well i think there is a lot of self examination going on turkey to say what's the issue. and it's complicated. certainly, there is a device between the people that are more relimingous and more faithful to muslim practices. people who want to keep turkey more secular but i think that's really over played. i think a lot of this has to do with the politician that has been around a lot of time. he has gotten more arrogant and authortarian. people of all philosophies have gotten tired of him. >> prime minter erdigan. he has been there how long?

20 years? >> in turkish politics for even longer than that. he's been prime minister for 10 years. it's hard to detract from his record. their economic growth has been spectacular. the gdp is more than 50% larger than when he became prime minister. he has made some real contributions in terms of accommodations with the kurds, the biggest domestic problem that turkey faced. and yet he's been very insensitive to an awful lot of the things that a country needs to do if it wants to be a modern pleuralistic society. >> bill: my understanding of this, the present protest in istanbuln turkey, which was senterred in istanbul when he started there and a little bit part of gazy park next to the

square which is a huge huge, huge -- we were just there a couple of times. but a huge center, open space there in the business section of istanbul. but what prompted that? >> well, you know it started out over a group of people who were concerned about the park being converted into a shopping center. >> yeah. >> and that was -- >> a local planning or a local planning issue. right? >> it is. i think that's another part of the puzzle. the prime minister was the mayor of istanbul before he became prime minister. a lot of people think he has never been willing to give up that hat. so he injects himself into some very vocal issues but beyond the fact that he is engaged in these things that a prime minister wouldn't normally be in, he also

pursues these policies without the kind of consultation consensus building that most western societies would expect. if you are going to convert an important piece of land in the sent center of a city from one use to another, you would have a planning process. you would give people a chance to comment and come in and so forth. his approach has been much more unilateral and when people object to it, he becomes very authoritarian. i think the appropriate test is more about his style of governing than about that particular decision. >> the government responded to the protests initially with an excessive show of force. >> yes, i think that really got it off. even the government now has conceded conceded. arragon, himself conceded there was excessive force and that statement was underscored by the deputy prime minister yesterday. but i think most turks feel that

that's a little -- it's too little too late and it doesn't really show that they are going to take the change of direction direction people think is needed. >> given that it started out an issue over a shopping mall, let's say, is this -- are the protests in turkey something that have international significance or of concern to the united states? >> well absolutely. turkey is a very important country. it's an it's important to europe. it's the one area in europe where we have economic growth. it is a stable relatively democratic country in a very tough part of the world that as a lot of stability. it neighbors iran, iraq and syria. so, having stability in turkey is very important. the they have been a very useful military ally to the journeys

united states. they are a very strong participant in nato. >> stability of turkey is important. right? >> that's right. >> do you think these risk bringing the government down? >> i think he is at risk. largely because i don't think he gets it. he is do you believing down and saying these are extremists, so forth. i don't find any accounts that really give any credibility to the notion that these are extremists i think turks from a wide range of political, religious, social backgrounds, people who don't talk to each other get along are united now. in their concern about the direction this government is going. >> is this on par with what happened in egypt, what happened in libya what happened in tunisia? >> i think this is a very different society. this is a much more socially

advanced society. it has had democratic institutions for a long time. per capita income in turkey is two or three times what it is in tunisia or egypt or syria. people in turkey are doing very well right now. >> uh-huh. >> financially. >> that's the impression we had when we were there not that long ago. >> the real problem for irigon. there is already strong indications that the economy is slowing, and this is certainly going to be a real drag on both foreign investment coming in the continued role that tourism plays in turkey which is very important. so he has really shot himself in the foot in terms of one of his major vulnerabilities. and that is continuing economic expansion. >> but he is not a mubaric. he is not a gadaffi.

>> no. i think there are some unpleasant aspects to his government and particularly the way he has rounded up journalists and opposition people and put them in jail when he couldn't agree to them. the level of public discourse in turkey is much great earn it has been in egypt. >> what has the -- what's the united states had to say? what's the white house saying about this so far? >> the white house -- >> standing by him or -- >> no. the white house has said that freedom of assembly and of speech are important elements in modern societies. and they have given us a rather veiled criticism of the government but nonetheless said that they did not approve of the way this was handled. and i think the conversations that are taking place on the diplomatic level are probably

much franker and more direct than what we have said publicly. so. >> so that we are just hoping i guess, that he cools it and the people, you know, that make some con silt tory -- >> there seems to be a lot of weariness within his party about his attitudes toward himself and his approach to governing. i think there are people moving up in that party. >> is that an elected position? >> well, eats the prime minister. so his continuation depends upon themez of parliament. >> this may be the end of the road for him. do you think? >> i don't think it's going to come that quickly. but i think he certainly -- the bloom is off of the rose. no question about that. >> more evidence as we tell you often, as we want to know what's going on around washington

centre for american progress is the plates to go at think progress dog or american progress.org and find scott lily's latest piece here on their website. i was looking at it this morning. the headline is: will turkey's willing party learn? thanks for coming in. we will be right back and hear about some of the other big stories here happening on this wednesday morning. >> heard around the country and seen on current tv this is "the bill press show." [ music ]

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>> only on current tv. you know who is coming on to me now? you know the kind of guys that do reverse mortgage commercials? those types are coming on to me all the time now. (vo) she gets the comedians laughing and the thinkers thinking. >>ok, so there's wiggle room in the ten commandments, that's what you're saying. you would rather deal with ahmadinejad than me. >>absolutely. >> and so would mitt romney. (vo) she's joy behar. >>and the best part is that current will let me say anything. what the hell were they thinking?

>> heard around the country and seen current tv, this is "the bill press show." >> you got it. twelve minutes before the top of the hour here the full court press on a wednesday morning. a big item added to the president's schedule today at 2:15 this afternoon in the corrodes garden. the president will introduce the next national security advisor in the white house, replacing the resigning tom donnelin. and this is susan rice who has been our ambassador to the united nations. she will be replaced and the president will now set in place samantha power, until recently a top foreign policy advisor. >> i like that move because she is qualified but i like it more

because it's going to drive republicans absolutely crazy. >> it will drive them crazy. >> because there is nothing they can do about it because she does not require senate confirmation. samantha power does, however. what do they have against here? i tell you yesterday, boy, there were fire worked. in the senate affirmed service committee, subcommittee of that major committee handeaded by kirsten jillibrand on the issue of sexual assault, the members, the leaders of the military, the leader of every one of the armed services and the chairman of the joint chiefs were there in front of the senators yesterday on the issue of sexual assault in the military. we saw that shocking statistic that there were 26,000 cases estimated of rape. >> that's what we are talking about. rape, either of men, women, or

men in the military last year, of which only about 3300 were reported and even a lesser number than that prosecuted. and yet, you know, this has been going on for a long time. the number keeps growing. the military doesn't do much about it. kirsten jillibrand says part of the problem is that the officers, the leaders of the military don't get it. they don't have a clue. she put it very corfloly. >> not every single commander wants women in the force. not every single commander believes what a sexual assault is. not every single commander can distinguish between a slap on the ass and a rape. right. so they don't want them there in the first place. they don't treat them withress expect and they don't even understand that we are talking about violence here we are not talking about, you know, just finding somebody attractive and saying, do you want to come by my for a drink or go out for a date? no. we are talking about violence

against women here claire mccaskill, senator from missouri pointed out, there are two major underlying problems here. >> there are two problems. one is you have sexual predators who are committing crimes. two, you have work to do on the issue of it a respectful and healthy work environment. >> boy, so so right. by the way, compare her comments to saxby chambliss to, you know these are young guys and hormones are running wild just like they do for all teenagers. well, you know, what do you expect? yeah. what you expect is for them to treat women and men with respect and oil bay the law and -- obey the law and not to be raping their fellow soldiers. that's what we expect. don't dismiss it as being hormones out of control. just to show you, though i think, how clueless and out of

touch so many of these leaders are, the head of the army general ray odiareeau. says if you take this decision make okay sexual assault away from us, it's going to undermine our power. >> it will undermine the readiness of the force. it will inhibit our commander's ability to shape the climate and units. it will hamper the timely delivery of justice to the very people we wish to help the vict i hope so and survivors of these horrific crimes. >> they have years and years and years to do something to dohelp the victims and they haven't done it so why trust them now. sarah plumber was with one of the army's contractors, not a member of the military but a contractor raped on duty in iranq or afghanistan and she points out why the current system just doesn't work. >> it is like saying a brother or sister has assaulted or raped

you and your father or mother is the one legally deciding the case. i don't think it's reasonable to even expect that person can be impartial impartial. >> excellent point. the only way to fix this as jackie spear in the house and kyrsten jillibrand say in the senate is to take it out of the chain of command, and i'll have a final parting shot on that same topic coming up next here on the "full-court press." >> this is "the bill press show." [ music ] to the fire. are you encouraged by what you heard the president say the other night? is this personal, or is it political? a lot of my work happens by doing the things that i'm given to doing anyway, by staying in touch with everything that is going on politically and putting my own nuance on it. in reality it's not like they actually care. this is purely about political grandstanding. i've worn lots of hats, but i've

always kept this going. i've been doing politics now for a dozen years. (vo) he's been called the epic politics man. he's michael shure and his arena is the war room. >> these republicans in congress that think the world ends at the atlantic ocean border and pacific ocean border. the bloggers and the people that are sort of compiling the best of the day. i do a lot of looking at those people as well. not only does senator rubio just care about rich people, but somehow he thinks raising the minimum wage is a bad idea for the middle class. but we do care about them right?

we have a big big hour and the iq will go way up. (vo) current tv gets the converstion started weekdays at 9am eastern. >> i'm a slutty bob hope. >> you are. >> the troops love me. (vo) tv and radio talk show host stephanie miller rounds out current's morning news block. >> you're welcome current tv audience for the visual candy. just be grateful current tv does not come in smellivision.

the sweatshirt is nice and all but i could use a golden lasso. (vo) only on current tv. >> "viewpoint" digs deep into the issues of the day. >> has the time finally come for real immigration reform? >> with a distinctly satirical point of view. if you believe in state's rights but still believe in the drug war you must be high. >> only on current tv. [ music ] ♪ >> the parting shot with bill press, this is "the bill press show." >> here we go on this june 5th.

my parting shot for today well all republicans in congress and far too many democrats, all they want to talk about these days have you noticed, is the irs, as usual, i think their priorities ass-backwards. what they ought to be talking about and upset about and doing something about is what we were just talking about, the shocking problem of sexual assault in the military and the refusal of our leaders to do anything about it despite all of the ipious promises to fix the problem. the number of assaults jumped to 26 ,000 last year of which 3,374 were reported. making matters worse two military officers charged with handling sexual assault were, themselves, charged with sexual assault. and yesterday, the chairman of the joint chiefs and the head of every branch of the service testified against legislation that would take the final

decision on criminal cases of sexual assault out of the chain of command and put it in the hands of a judge and jury. they argue doing so will undermine soldiers' confidence in their commander. they just don't get it. >> that's the problem. nobody has confidence in these commanders any more. you know, i think it's time. we've heard enough for the military. i think it's time for president obamatiously himself, to step up and say to hell with what the generals say. you send me that bill. and i'll sign it. >> that's my parting shot for today, folks. hope you have a real good one today. john fugelsang joins us tomorrow morning, margaret tollef from bloomberg will be here as well. i will be down at the whitehouse for susan rice. and we will tall talk all about it right here tomorrow. >> this is "the bill press show."

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>> oh, for god's sakes i take one day off, condoms on the ceiling, empty beer cans. jacki schechner did you not control these boys? and where is jim? what have you done with jim? >> oh there's jim. >> stephanie: there's jim. momma takes one day off and what has happened? >> how did your